Remote control



s. H. LANYON REMOTE CONTROL June 1, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 14, 1935 INVENTOR,

M m m. N N, A Wm L n m E H W L June 1, 1937. s. H. LANYON 2,082,703

REMOTE CONTROL Filed Jan. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR,

' SAMUEL HERBERT LANYON.

. ATTORNEYS.

Patented June l, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT -OFFlCE mmil timt SamuelHerbert Lanyon, Oakland, Calif. Application January 14, 1935, Serial No.1,747

3 Claims. My invention relates to a means for the remote control ofdevices requiring a movement which can be resolved into a rotationalmovement and more particularly to a remote control device whichisexceptionally accurate and practically deadbeat.

Among the objects of my invention are: To provide a remote controldevice operable at a distance; to provide a remote control device whichis accurate in its operation and which, regardless of its motion awayfrom predetermined points, will reset to those points through theshortest arc and without substantial deviation; to provide a remotecontrol device which is deadbeat in its action and which will notoverrun due to inertia; to provide a remote control device which willnot hunt; and to provide a remote control device adaptable for use incontrolling radio equipment, elevators, shipboard rudders or in fact,any machines or instruments wherein the exact positioning of a part isto be controlled electrically.

Other objects of my invention will be apparent or will be specificallypointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, butI do not limit myself to the embodiment of the invention hereindescribed, as various forms may be adopted within the scope of theclaims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is the top view in elevation of asimplified remote control device adapted for about 180 total rotationand provided with only two cams in order to simplify the explanation ofits operation.

Figure 2 is the wiring diagram reduced to lowest terms and simplifiedfor clarity, no attempt being made to show the relative positions ofcamoperated contacts. 4

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of cam followers and cam contacts andassociated mechanical lock, the cam itself being shown in elevation.

Figure 4 is a side view in elevation of the device of Figure 1, some ofthe parts being omitted.

Figure 5 is an elevational view taken at right angles to that shown inFigure 4, to show therelation of the gear shifting magnet to theremainder of the apparatus.

It is believed that the broad aspects of my invention can be more fullyunderstood by direct reference to the drawings.

A shaft I, rigidly connected to the shaft to be rotated, either directlythereby obtaining about 180 rotation or less, or through step-up gearsthereby obtaining 360 rotation or several revolutions as desired, ismounted in a frame 2 on bearing apertures 4-4 passing through two op- Iposite ides of theframe 2. .Mounted on the shaft I do not desire,however, to be limited between the two bearings are a plurality of camsI; In Figure 1 only two are shown, but as many may be used as there areposition settings of the shaft desired. As will later be seen, theposition setting of the device is such that error is much less 5' thanone degree, so that if desired, I80 or more cams may be used. It willalso be seenthat a single cam may be used whereon a plurality ofoperating surfaces may be out. I prefer, however, to describe the deviceas having separate cams, each of them being adjustable on the shaft asto rotation with respect thereto and being fixed in position by setscrews 6. Outside of the frame is positioned a main driving gear 1 fixedon the shaft by a gear set screw 9.

An auxiliary frame "I is fastened to the frame 2 by an angle arm II andthe frame In carries mounted thereon a motor l2 having directionalwindings I3 and I4. Winding I3 is adaptemto cause the motor to run inone direction when 0 energized and winding i4 is adapted to rotate themotor in the opposite direction when energized. in any way by this typeof motor as any reversing motor is perfectly satisfactory, particularlywhen supplied withthree leads, a common lead and two other leads, one ofwhich when energized with the common lead will cause the motor to run inone direction, the other when energized with the common lead, causingthe motor to run in the opposite direction.

The motor shaft I5 is extended and carries upon it a brake drum l6 and aworm l1. Mounted also on the auxiliary frame I0 is a gear shaft l9 slid-Bear ing through bearings in both frames, the shaft being parallel tothe main rotatable shaft I. The gear shaft l9 carries a pinion whichisadapted to be engaged with the teeth of the main gear I but which isheld out of engagement from that gear by means of 'a spring 2|, thedistance 40 that the pinion is removed from the main gear beingdetermined by an adiustable stop 22. A driven gear 24 is positioned onthe end of the gear shaft l9 in engagement with the worm I1, and ispreferably made wide enough so that as the shaft I8 is shifted so thatpinion 20 is engaged or disengaged from the main gear I, the worm l1 anddriven gear 24 are continually engaged. Thus, pinion 20 is rotating asit approaches the main gear I, greatly aiding a quick and accurateengagement therewith.

I may desire, however, to prevent unchecked overrunning of the motor andI have, therefore, provided the gear shaft with a brake-actuating disc25 which through a brake link "operates a spring brake 21, normally incontact with drum it so that when the gears are out of engagement thisbrake will stop the rotation of the motor shaft quickly.

The end of thegear shaft [8 is preferably provided with a bevel 28 whichengages with a shift lever 30, only the top of which is shown in Figure1, the remainder of the shifting mechanism being shown in Figures 4 and5, to which I now refer.

Shift lever 30 is preferably resilient and is attached to an armature llof a magnet 32 by an angle bar It, the armature being pivoted to amagnet core I5. Thus, when current is passed through the magnet windingthe armature is drawn up and the shift lever pressed against the gearshaft ll forcing gear 20 into mesh with gear I, the direction being asindicated by the arrow I! in Figure 1. When current ceases to passthrough the magnet winding 32, spring 2i returns the gear shaft, thusimmediately releasing shaft I from any connection with the motor. Itwill be noticed that during this shift, the brake-actuating disc 2|pushes brake 21 away Iran the brake drum ll, thus allowing the motor torevolve freely and when the gear shaft i9 returns, the brake is applied.The electrical connection of the gear shift magnet to the motor will begiven later.

In case the complete remote control device is used, for example, on aradio set, it may be desirable that the radio set be muted duringrotational movement and I have found it convenient to utilize a pair ofcontacts 31, one of which is in contact with the brake-actuating discII, the circuit being closed by the motion of the gear shaft duringengagement. There may be other desirable uses for this contact.

Referring directly to the cam contour and cam contacts as shown indetail in Figure 3, I prefer to provide the cam with a semicylindricaloperating surface III having a greater radius than the remainingportions ll. I also prefer to have the portion of greater radius or, asmay be more conveniently called, the high portion, occupy not more than180 of the periphery of the cam, and I prefer to have a slantingtransition area 42 on each end. The reason for this will be shown later.

On each cam, substantially opposite each other, I provide a pair of camfollowers 4| and associated electrical contacts operated thereby. Adescription of one follower will serve for all. A cam follower llextends preferably radially toward the periphery of the cam and passesthrough a cam follower body 48 mounted on a. pivot 45. These camfollowers are pinned in place by means of taper pins 41. The camfollower body I! together with its cam follower is urged toward theperiphery of the cam by a cam follower spring 4!, and the distancethrough which the follower may travel toward the axis of the cam whennot in contact with the high portion of the cam is controlled by meansof a cam follower limit screw assembly 50.

The cam follower is allowed, by adjusting screw assembly ii, to followdown the transition surface 4! a very slight amount, as the cam isrotated, just sumciently so that a slight rocking action is given to thecam follower body when the cam follower engages the transition surfaceand progresses onto the high portion of the cam during rotation of thecam. I then utilize this rocking motion by attaching FQUOWer body a.contact arm I carrying a moving contact 52. I then position on the mainframe a stationary contact 53 carried by a contact adjusting screw 54 sothat the extent of the gap therebetween may be controlled. It will benoticed that by having the cam follower between the cam pivot and thecontact carried by the cam follower body that I obtain a multiplicationof the distance through which the contact 52 travels, over the actualdistance of offset created by the contact of the cam transition surfacewith the cam follower. I then adjust contact 51 so that the gaps areopen when the cam follower is opposite the low portion ll of the cam,but are closed when the cam follower is in contact with the high portion40 of the cam.

I utilize a cam follower adjustment screw 55 to adjust exactly theposition of the cam followers themselves with respect to the transitionpoints on the periphery of the cam so that when the cam is turned tobring both of the cam followers in contact with the opposite transitionsurfaces, and with the cam in that one position only, both gaps will beopen. At all other positions within the operative arc of rotation one orthe other of the opposite gaps will be closed according to whether ornot the associated follower is on the high portion of the cam.

On each cam I provide at one side of the high portion of the cam a lockbrake 55 having a notch 51 therein and then provide a fixed positioningwedge 59 urged into the notch by means of a lock spring 80. Thismechanical locking arrangement is in reality a self-centering brakecausing the cam to stop instantly, as will be later explanied, when bothof the cam follower contacts are open, thus preventing riding by orhunting. In many cases, however, I find that such a lock is notnecessary as frictional components of the mechanism which is actuated bythe shaft I are many times sufficient to prevent such riding by. It isto be understood that the lock may be placed at other locations aroundthe cam periphery if desired.

The above description is concerned solely with the mechanical structureof the device. The electrical hookup will next be explained, togetherwith the way in which the device functions when so hooked up. Directreference must, therefore, be had to a simplified wiring diagram, shownI in Figure 2, in which the mechanical structure has also been reducedto lowest terms. The six cams indicated as positioned on shaft i arepreferably adjusted so that lines drawn to the axis of the shaft fromthe beginning of the high portion of the dams will be in the samedifferent angular relationship as the six points at which it is desiredthat the rotation shall stop.

The opposite movable contacts 52, associated with each cam, areconnected together and each connection is brought out to individualselector contacts 6 i. These may conveniently be one contact of a seriesof interlocking switches 82, each of which will remain closed untilreleased by operation of another or a release button, not shown. Asource of electrical current will then be included between the othercontacts of these switches such as a main power supply ll. Oneconnection from mains 8! passes through the magnet winding 32 andthereafter is divided to pass through motor windings II and It. Theemerging lead from winding ll goes directly to all the stationarycontacts ll on one side of the cams and the emerging lead from windingclosed at varying temperatures, utilizing the closure for the regulationof draft or feed of a burner for providing heat for houses, green housesor other places where a uniform heat is desired. Again, I may desire touse my instant invention in conjunction with the automatic time controldescribed and claimed in my application, Serial No. 705,670, filedJanuary 8, 1934. This device comprises a traveling tape having holespunched therein allowing various contacts to be made at varying or equaltime intervals with particular adaptation to the use of the device as anautomatic preselective and manual remote control for a radio set.

The device either as shown or so adjusted as to create a motion havinguniform increments is also adapted for use as a repeater. A number ofsuch devices may be operated in parallel by a single set of contactorsand the remote control devices themselves located in differentgeographical positions. Each one will then move to iden-, tical settingsof angular rotation in response to the impulses sent out by the singlecontrolling set of contactors. An example of this type of use is agyrocompass provided with repeating contacts, the remote control devicesas herein described being positioned in various locations on a ship andfaithfully reproducing the indications given by the main compass. A 2-1step-up would then be used to obtain 360 readings.

It is also within the scope of my invention to mount pivots I of the camfollower bodies 40 on a frame rotatable around the axis of a single cam.With both gaps between contacts 52 and i! open as shown in Figure 3, anyrotation of the frame carrying the cam follower bodies will cause one ofthe related gapsto close, thus energizing the motor. The cam will thenturn and come to rest in a new position as determined by the newposition of the cam followers. An electrical follow-up system of this,sort has many applications in industry, as will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art.

While it is obvious in my preferred form that an operating arc ofsubstantially 180, as indicated by the high portion ll in Figure 3, isthe are within which the maximumnumber of position settings of othercams is possible, it is also to be understood that the relative positionof the operating surface related cam followers should be such that at notime should the associated contacts be both closed, or both openedexcept when at the desired position, s determined by the related cam. Ifthese conditions are fulfilled, the high portion ll may be greater orless than 180, but the effective operative arc of the related cam cannotbe greater than 180 although it may be less.

thermostatic device whereby the contacts are I claim:

1. In a remote control device, the combination with a shaft whoserotation is to be controlled and a motor for rotating said shaft, of acam rotated by said shaft. a contact actuated by said cam to open duringslightly more than one half of its arc of operation, a second contactsimilarly actuated to be open during slightly more than the other halfof its arc of operation, whereby there is a single position whereat bothof said contacts are open, a circuit including said contacts and saidmotor and operative to rotate the motor in one direction when onecontact is closed and in the other direction when the other contact isclosed, a geared connection between said motor and said shaft includinga gear slidable to break said connection, electro-magnetic means inseries with said circuit for sliding said gear into mesh when either ofsaid contacts is closed, resilient means acting in opposition to saidelectro-magnetic means to slide said gear out of mesh when both of saidcontactors are open, means for instantaneously arresting the motion ofsaid cam at the open position of both contacts, and means operative onthe disengagement of said geared connection for braking said motor.

2. In-a remote control device, the combination with a controlled shaft,a motor for driving said shaft, and a cam operated switching system forcausing said motor to rotate in a direction adapted to-drive said shaftthrough the shortest arc to a position predetermined by the setting ofsaid cam, of a gear connection between said motor and shaft including agear slidable to disconnect said motor and shaft, electro-magnetic meansin series with said motor and switching system for sliding said gearinto mesh to drive said shaft when said motor is in operation, resilientmeans for sliding said gear out of mesh, and means operative upon thedisengagement of said gear for braking said motor.

3. In a remote control device, the combination with a controlled shaft,a motor for driving said shaft, and a cam operated switching system forcausing said motor to rotate in a direction adapted to drive said shaftthrough the shortest arc to a position predetermined by the setting ofsaid cam, of a gear connection between said motor and shaft including agear slidable to disconnect said motor and shaft, electro-magnetic meansin series with said motor and switching system for sliding said gearinto mesh to drive said shaft when said motor is in operation, resilientmeans for sliding said gear out of mesh, and means operative at theposition of deenergization of said motor for stopping separately themotion of both motor and shaft.

SAMUEL HERBERT LANYON.

